The Last Alone
by WinterOrchid99
Summary: Set just after HTTYD2, Berk is working hard to rebuild in the wake of Drago's attack. However, even in peacetimes, adventure is always near for our favorite vikings, and a most surprising new addition to the village brings just that on her scaly back. After all, Nightfuries have quite the habit of making trouble.
1. Chapter 1

**I always felt that Toothless shouldn't have to be the last of his kind, so I decided to play around with the idea that he isn't. Please read and enjoy! It would be great if you would review, follow, or fav!**

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Her wings had long since stopped aching as the raw cold of the storm winds bit into her hide. She was no longer sure whether her front paws were shivering with cold or simply being buffeted by the winter gales that tore against her weary body. Lost in the storm, she had been stripped of all sense of direction and time. She could no longer even tell which way was up and down anymore. For all she knew, she could be right above her home or hopelessly lost over the endless ocean that surrounded her island.

Her island had always been safe, always the same. It had been large enought that her 10 year exile hadn't driven her mad, but small enough that she knew every tree and cave by heart. There had been a cove that may fish lived in, los of nice smelling grass...oh why had she dared to venture so far from home! She'd known her island was terribly isolated; she'd tried flying out over the ocean before and never found any hint of land. Granted, she'd never flown for this long before, but the chances of finding land still seemed too insignificant to grow even the smallest seed of hope.

Truly, any earnest desire had fled long ago. All she felt now was fear, and even that was beginning to seep out of her skin and into the greedy storm. Now, as her body cooled at an alarming rate and the winds kept urging her this way and that, she felt a numbness creep into her heart that had nothing to do with the wind: she was going to die. The horrible conclusion tore its way out of her throat in a hopeless wail that was sucked away by the wind. _It isn't fair_ , she thought sluggishly, _to have survived on my own for so long only to be taken down by something so stupid!_ It really had been stupid of her, she realised, to have departed her island without a moment's hesitation when she heard that roar.

The wind buffeted her wildly again and the numbness in her wings gave way for a moment to pain. She shook her head in vain, straining her weary ears for any sound of life around her. Correction, when she _thought_ she heard that roar. How utterly stupid. Long before she'd ever come to her island she'd known she was the last of her kind. She had been told so by every colony she had travelled to, looking desperately for her family. Every one of them had told her the same thing, "Your kind hasn't been seen out here for centuries!" and her absolute _favorite_ , "We thought you had all died out!"

But this afternoon, as she'd been napping in her cave, she'd heard a roar that had awoken her instantly. Her heart pounding and hope rising, she had darted out of the cave and into the air as quickly as her wings could take her. She'd been so sure, following the direction she'd heard that precious sound, that she was no longer alone, that there was another just in front of her somewhere. She'd thought. She'd hoped.

And now, she paid.

The storm had caught her perhaps an hour into her desperate flight and from there it had all gone to hell. She'd tried turning back once, early on in the onslaught, but as she kept flying and flying she realised she no longer had any sense of where her island was. She'd gone into a panic, darting this way and that, trying frantically to find her way out of the storm. But it held her firmly in its cold jaws and shook her about with such force that she could not have descended to the ocean even to drown herself if she'd wished it.

All about her she felt the cold kives of rain and hail, the whipping blows of the cursed northern wind, and the grueling numbness of the cold. Dragons like her had a great dislike of the cold, but were rarely bothered by temperature since the fires within them kept them warm. There were many tales of dragons who had been lost in ice or storms who had been found, looking dead, but with their soul-fires still burning. Such dragons could be brought back to wakefulness, for as long as a soul-fire burned, the dragon lived.

However, prolonged cold and exertion, such as she'd been experiencing, could extinguish the soul-fire of a dragon if one did not find heat soon enough. She feared that such a time was now at hand. Either she found land and kept her fire burning or she would slowly slip away into the eternal night like a last wisp of smoke rising to the stars.

As the wind continued to shriek in her ears, preventing her from echolocating to "see" anything below her, she knew the odds were not in her favor. She was flying about twelve days north of hopeless, solidly above the meridian of misery, and now only a few degrees away from freezing to death. The darkness that had been flickering about in the corners of her mind now surged forward. She felt her body go limp, wings now useless, and to her distant surprise she began to fall. Well, at least she knew which way was down now. But the knowledge didn't do her much good as all consciousness left her and she plummeted down, slowly at first then rapidly gaining speed, and plunged into the cold waters far below. The blow did not make her stir, neither did her burning lack of air. So, of course, she never saw the lithe forms gliding towards her beneath the waves, their jaws open and waiting.

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 **Thank you for reading the beginning of my story! I'll do my best to post more soon.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who viewed, re-viewed, reviewed, and followed my story! I hope you enjoy and keep on being awesome! (Which really just means review my story, pretty please. :)**

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"Dammit!"

That's the first thing I heard Hiccup say as he came wheeling into the forge. His eyes looked ablaze with some kind of peevish ire and I didn't even have to ask to know what was wrong. That was his "gotta-run-after-girlfriend-cuz'-someone's-an-idiot" face. Gobber, however, didn't read the message so clearly and was about to voice his concern when Hiccup said even louder, "Dammit!" Gobber re-evaluated his choice to speak then and made the good decision to keep his mouth shut and away from the boiling volcano that is a pissed-off Hiccup.

Hiccup ran noisily around the forge, picking up strange doodads and the new toolbelt he'd been working on, his hurried footprints kicking up dust and waking Grump from his lazy nap. In his surprise at being awoken Grump burped up some lava on himself, only to snuggle down in his molten mess while Gobber began fretting over his overgrown sausage of a dragon. Hiccup didn't notice a second of it as his determined fury never wavered. Grabbing the last of his riding gear, Hiccup turned his gaze on me.

I crouched down a bit as he leapt onto my back and was bounding out the door before he'd even snapped his foot into the fin mechanism. We were in the sky in seconds, racing together towards the faint blue and yellow mass on the horizon.

I'd gotten very good at locating Stormfly quickly over the last few weeks as Astrid's getaways increased in frequency. They clearly did not please Hiccup and I hardly had to press our mental bond to hear his thoughts loud and clear. _Stupid e_ _ffing Adalheidis…Shouldn't have left her alone!...Trust those hags to ruin everything...God's almighty, I should've stayed...How can Astrid not be afraid of a Bewilderbeast but run screaming at the sight of dresses!_

I smirked a little at that. Indeed, the mental image of Astrid running away from a piece of clothing was very funny and I chuckled deep in my throat. This quickly turned Hiccup's simmering fury onto me and I sent him the thought, " _We're catching up"_ , to distract him. Hiccup turned his eyes to the horizon. Indeed, we were gaining on the females and would soon overtake them, despite the sudden pickup of the wind. Our bond fizzled with a bit of pride on both sides at how fast we'd become.

I'll admit, it was plenty strange at first when I became Alpha and suddenly gained telepathic abilities. Dragons usually communicate verbally, like most animals, but when they form special bonds with each other―such as family or mating bonds―they gain the ability to communicate without sound and over very long distances. An Alpha is special in that their colony is their family, so they are able to communicate with, or command, all the dragons of their nest. I already knew Hiccup and I shared a bond, we are like brothers, but I never expected we shared a bond. Nevertheless, once I became Alpha our bond roared to life, even stronger than my connections to the other dragons, and gave us the great gift of true communication. You can imagine how surprised Hiccup was to discover that not only did dragons have a language but they had been able to understand humans all along! If memory serves, he fainted on the spot the first time I spoke to him. Kind of like the first time I yelled at him….ah, memories.

Another chuckle rumbled in my throat at the thought and this time Hiccup chuckled with me. I smiled, glad that Hiccup's mood had broken, and turned my attention to the pair in front of us, devoting my focus to catching up to them. They were still a ways away, no longer blobs on the darkening horizon but moving shapes flying as quickly as they could. Still, Stormfly was getting on in her years as far as Nadders are concerned, and certainly had no hope of out-flying a Nightfury.

As we sped across the darkening sky my focus on the pair wavered as I sensed a change in the air. I glanced around, sniffing carefully, and quickly grew uneasy. The darkness that had been descending on us was not from the setting of the sun, as I had stupidly assumed, but the rising of clouds. Dark, roiling masses of water, and electricity were quickly approaching us...and we'd soon collide with them head on if I couldn't catch Stormfly fast enough.

Hiccup sensed my unease as well and finally took note of the fast-forming stormclouds. Already, they had grown impossibly huge for the few minutes that had passed since I first took note of them. The wind too began to howl, as if in fury, and it became harder for me to maintain my speed. My unease grew sharper; this felt almost...unnatural. Hiccup finally understood the severity of the situation and panic washed over my senses instantly. I pushed my wings as hard as I could, wind or no wind. _Why hasn't Stormfly turned around yet...surely she can see the storm as well as I can. She wouldn't honestly put Astrid in danger by flying through a monster like that!_ I knew she wouldn't...and yet, Stormfly was not turning around.

I was only 15 or so dragon-lengths behind the pair when they disappeared into the rumbling clouds. As Hiccup and I plunged in afterwards I was immediately assaulted by the feeling that we had done something horribly, terribly wrong. Storms sometimes feel as if they have a mind of their own, and as we pushed inwards I got the distinct feeling that we were most unwelcome in this hellish place.

Lightning crackled around us and my eyes worked to see the outline of the dragon and rider in front of us. The wind's pitch increased, making my vision a little fuzzy, and rain began to pelt my face. Storms are some of the most dangerous flying experiences for dragons since the rain and noise makes it hard to see and concentrate, not to mention the lightning. I shuddered at the thought, feeling the static all around us in the air. Hiccup shuddered too, but not for the same reason.

I was suddenly reminded how fragile my rider is. Hiccup is a human, and a lean one at that, he has no inner fire to keep him warm and no scales to keep him insulated. A storm like this, wind this cold…too much of this could kill him. It could kill Astrid.

I let loose a roar and called out both with my voice and mind, _**"Stormfly! Turn around! This storm is too dangerous, we must return to Berk!"**_ But Stormfly did not answer, she didn't get the chance.

Just as I was about to catch up, just as Hiccup and I came within range of Stormfly and Astrid, their faces were suddenly illuminated by a flash of lightning. They were turned toward us at the time, probably intent on returning to Berk and getting out of this God-forsaken storm, when that blinding dagger of light lanced out of the clouds and struck Stormfly in the chest. It all happened so fast...my instincts went on hyperdrive as my voice combined with Hiccup's in a deafening cry and my body dove after the limp forms of Astrid and Stormfly. Astrid came loose of her harness almost immediately into their free-fall and I grabbed her quickly with my forepaws. Thinking as one, Hiccup and I managed to pass her from my hold to his and I paused only for a second to feel Astrid securely in his arms before returning my focus to Stormfly.

The dragoness was much larger than I, and with two passengers on my back I knew in some corner of my brain that there was no way for me to carry her through the wind and rain all the way back to Berk. But still, I gripped her limp form in my paws, holding onto her shoulders and tail, and opened up my wings. When the weight hit me, my body cried out in such pain that darkness flickered on the edge of my vision for a moment. I pushed it aside, roaring in defiance of the cackling gales, and flew for all I was worth.

I can't say how long I managed to hold onto Stormfly, but it wasn't long enough. I could feel that we were nearing the edge of the stormclouds, but my body was crying out in such protest that I could not go on like this. My wings felt as if they would break and the combination of heavy rain and violent wind did nothing to lighten my load. In my conflict, I opened my mind to Hiccup, showing him just how far I could make it with Stormfly limp in my grip...it wasn't far. I felt Hiccup's grief and conflict just as acutely as my own. Hiccup and I thought and felt together, and made our choice. If Stormfly had somehow survived, we would fly as far as we could and figure it out. If, however she was…then we would owe it to her to save the woman who had been her caretaker, rider, and best friend.

Hiccup secured Astrid to the saddle with some rope from his belt and shimmied down my leg to Stormfly's back. He crawled through the space between our bodies and made his way to her limp neck. Pushing his hand as strongly against the side of her neck as he could in all the wind and rain, he felt for a pulse. I waited in hopeful anticipation.

Stormfly had been one of my first friends amongst the dragons of Berk; she and I had spent a great deal of time together since our riders were so fond of each other. I couldn't count the number of days we'd trained side by side or the number of Dragon Races we'd competed in, how many times we'd gone hunting or how many houses we'd exploded. The knowledge that she might already be gone was beyond painful, but the thought that I might not be able to save her even if she was alive was pure torture.

Hiccup pulled his hand away and I felt his answer to my unasked question as soon as he knew it himself. I raised my head and roared. I roared for my friend, for my companion, for a member of my colony, and a member of my family. I put into that sound all the pain in my heart and Hiccup's, as well as the pain I knew Astrid would endure once she awoke. Even after I ran out of breath, the sound of my grief echoed through the storm and over the water far below. As Hiccup climbed back onto my back and held Astrid's gently breathing form close, rocking her back and forth, I felt a pain swell in my chest. The ache in my heart had nothing to do with the weariness of my body.

I looked upon my friend one last time before turning my face away and letting her body slip from my grasp. As she fell, swallowed up by the clouds, I was sure that a piece of my heart fell with her.

I didn't notice when we escaped the clutches of the storm, nor when we flew through the last rays of day. I didn't realise it when Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut found us on our return and guided us back to Berk. I wasn't even really aware of landing, being bombarded by bodies and questions as people helped Hiccup and Astrid off of my back and rushed them both away to be looked after. It wasn't until late that night, when I found myself wandering aimlessly through the woods, that reality came crashing down on me.

I sank to the ground and stayed there till morning, alternating all night between fitful sleep and crying quietly. My friend was gone, just gone. I hadn't been able to save her. If only I had been faster…if only I had reached them sooner...why hadn't Stormfly just turned around?! Why, _WHY,_ _**WHY?!**_

Somewhere during that nightmarish night it occurred to me that this was the first time I'd witnessed the death of someone I held dear since the death of my family so many years ago. When I had killed Stoic I hadn't been in control of myself, I hadn't been aware of what was happening. But with Stormfly...I had seen every second. Between the cries and the nightmares, somewhere along the line between grief, guilt, and fury, I silently promised myself that I would never let anyone I cared for be taken from me ever again.

I had no idea at the time how soon that promise would be tested.

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 **Thank you so much for reading my story! Please review if you've got the time, it really is helpful to hear about what you guys think. Have a great day/night/life!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello all and welcome to the next chapter! Sorry it's taken so long to update, but the end of the school year is crazy! Anyway, I hope you like it. Please review if you can, favorite if you feel so inclined, and otherwise enjoy the story!**

 **Many thanks to the two guests, DoctorAllonzy, and just-another-giraffe for reviewing!**

 ** _"Alpha Commands"_ **_"Dragon Speech" Dragon Thoughts_ "Human Speech"

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When dawn finally came and my sore eyes remained open for longer than a few bleary moments, I somehow managed to drag myself to my feet. I turned my head up to the sky, watching the mist rise and fill with the golden light of the new sun, and sent one last wish to the eternal fires for Stormfly. I hoped...I hoped she was at peace. Closing my eyes tightly, I moved thoughts of my friend away from the front of my mind and instead focussed on my bonds to the other dragons. I spent a time inspecting each, ensuring that every one was strong and stable. Once I was certain that none had suffered any severe injury in the time I had been...unavailable, I focused on my bond to Cloudjumper.

Cloudjumper had been of great assistance over the last few weeks since I became Alpha. I'd had no idea what I was doing, and no real experience to apply to providing for and ensuring the continued safety of my nest. After all, I'd lived with the Red Death's nest for as long as I could remember and she hadn't been exactly benevolent.

Cloudjumper, on the other hand, had lived nearly his entire life under the care of a very wise and powerful alpha. He had certainly learned enough to tell me many a thing about how the White Bewilderbeast had led his nest. He was the only admirable Alpha I'd ever known and I regretted that I hadn't spent much time in his presence; certainly not enough time to learn how to lead a horde of fire-breathing, trouble-seeking dragons.

Trouble-seeking indeed.

I had no sooner opened my bond with Cloudjumper than he notified me that Hookfang was looking to start a fight with the Terrors...inside the Great Hall. _Of all the places to… "I'll be there as soon as I can,"_ I sent with about as much ire as could drip from a telepathic message.

It actually took me a minute to make my way through the trees and back to Berk. I was so used to having Hiccup around that having to run quickly was actually not as normal as one might expect. Usually, if there was an emergency, Hiccup would vault onto my back and we'd be off at an actually respectable speed. Still, as I loped into Berk's busy streets I thought back to that first Snoggletog when Hiccup had made me a fully self-flying rig. Though I had definitely appreciated the gesture, flying was something special for the two of us and I intended to keep it that way. Occasional running and slower speed be damned; I still would rather be grounded than fly without Hiccup.

I thought of Hiccup, wondered how he was, and realised I hadn't thought to check on him during my morning routine. This realisation startled me as much as I startled a viking with a wheelbarrow full of cabbages as I raced around a corner. Hiccup was usually the first of my family I checked up on, so to make up for my mistake I focused on our bond as I leapt over a Gronkle who was trundling through the street. A lance of shame went through me. I barely had to focus on our bond to feel the distress practically vibrating through it. Here I had been, away from my nest and my best friend when both had needed me.

As I neared the Great Hall, sounds of angry dragons filled my ears and I shook my guilt aside. Dangerous situation first, distress second. It certainly wouldn't improve Hiccup's mood if the Great Hall, newly rebuilt from all the destruction from the Bewilderbeast attack, was destroyed first thing in the morning. Approaching the building, I saw Cloudjumper on the roof. He gave me a nod before flying off to find Valka, no doubt, and I rolled my eyes. _Gee, thanks. Leave the pissed off dragons to me, why don'tcha. Not like I'd want any help._

Sarcasm and fighting first thing in the morning, what could be better?

I bounded through the doors of the hall with a bang and a roar, making everyone in the room freeze for a moment, just long enough for me to get a handle on what was happening. Three of the huge oak tables had been overturned or smashed to pieces. Two of Gothi's Terrors seemed to be stuck to the ceiling while Gothi herself slept in a chair by the fireplace, seemingly unperturbed by the racket and destruction that had clearly reigned around her. Several vikings, all glaring angrily, seemed to be covered in their morning meals. One of the walls appeared scorched in several spots, and a young Zippleback was hiding beneath one of the remaining tables in fear.

The aggressors, of course, had their eyes on me. Hookfang was on his back, smouldering slightly as if he'd set himself on fire recently, on top of a broken table. At least a dozen Terrors were in the process of pinning him, some nipping at his tail and exposed underbelly and one profoundly stupid Terror with his mouth around one of Hookfang's long horns.

As the shock of my entrance wore off, the Terrors' looks changed to those of meek innocence. I immediately sent them a glare that said I was having none of it, and then looked at the still-fiery Hookfang. To my frustration, Hookfang returned my glare with equal fire and challenge.

I no longer had to ask who'd started the fight.

I approached Hookfang with all the strength and authority I could muster, more than I'd expected as it seemed my grief worked well to fuel my fury. As I approached, the Terrors quickly backed away, but Hookfang, still looking for a fight apparently, stood tall before me. _"Would you care to explain what exactly is going on here?"_ I said with a hiss. Hookfang responded with a snarl.

 _"My business with those little rats with wings has nothing to do with you,_ alpha _."_

My expression turned hard. _"You made it my business when you decided it was a good idea to destroy a building first thing in the morning. It is my duty to keep order and balance within the nest. So, I will ask again, what is going on here?"_

Hookfang sneered down at me and growled out, _"As if you would care! You don't even bother to protect your own, yet here you come running when one of your precious human's playpens gets a little scorched."_ My nose flared at the implied insult, but Hookfang wasn't done yet. _"It's obvious, isn't it. You think you're so much better than us, so much stronger. The child of lightning and death itself. Hah! As if. Any_ real _dragon can see how good of an alpha you are."_

My glare grew even sharper. _"Watch your mouth, Hookfang,"_ I snarled. _"I'm giving you a warning, I will not tolerate this kind of insult or destructive idiocy again."_ I sent one more reproachful look to the Terrors, who all bowed their heads in respect. As I turned away from Hookfang and moved a few steps towards the door I couldn't help but shoot at him, _"And if you really want to prove how much of a 'real dragon' you are, you should do it somewhere you can embarrass yourself without an audience."_

I didn't have to turn around to know how Hookfang's face twisted at that, and I felt a bit of a smirk tugging at the corner of my mouth. However, my victory faded fast and I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard his next words.

 _"An alpha protects its own, but with how you just let Stormfly die, it seems you don't care enough to protect a damn one of us."_

For a moment I forgot how to breathe as lightning flashed again before my eyes. My blood flushed cold and every dragon in the hall froze. For a moment, nothing moved, no one breathed. Even the humans felt the sudden tension, thicker than a Gronkle's hide. Then absolute fury burned through my blood, pounding with a ferocity only born of anger and guilt. I wheeled towards Hookfang and lunged, crossing the space between us faster than he could react. With a single move I took one of his massive wings in my mouth and flung him towards the entryway. The strength of my throw left him sailing towards the massive doors, which burst open as Hookfang connected with them and fell tumbling out. He looked a bit dazed as I stalked out after him, fixing him with a glare as murderous as they come.

 _"How **dare** you,"_ I snarled. _"How dare you act as if I didn't care when Stormfly...I saw everything, Hookfang! You can't see something like that happen to someone you cherish and not care a hell of a lot."_

 _"Yak shit! If you really cared, you would've done everything in your power to bring her home!"_ The dazedness was gone from Hookfang's eyes as he rose to his feet again. There was a crowd of dragons and humans alike gathering in a wide circle around us. Somewhere in the back of my mind, in a part that was not working very hard to hold back my anger, it was noted that we shouldn't do this so publicly. Oh, well. A little too late now to suggest talking in private.

 _"Did you?"_ Hookfang spat accusingly at me. _"Tell me, Toothless, did you do everything in your power to bring her home alive?"_

I reeled a bit at the question and my anger faded. My mind kindly supplied all the guilt-dripping memories of flying after Stormfly.

I could've flown faster, if I was honest. I probably could've flown faster if I'd just tried, if I'd felt any real sense of danger. I'd thought this would be like all the other getaway attempts that pair had made recently, that they'd turn around eventually and Hiccup would knock some comfort and sense into the hard-headed woman he loved. That's how I'd expected it to go. And because I hadn't been ready for anything unexpected, I hadn't protected Stormfly. She had died because of me, because of my inattentiveness and _confidence_. I'd been so confident that I didn't really have to worry, that I didn't have to push my body to the absolute limit to catch up before she flew too far.

 _It's my fault. It's my fault. It's my fault._

The thought kept circling round and round in a hurricane in my mind. Guilt, such guilt, flooded my every sense. My body suddenly felt as if it weighed as much as a mountain.

I looked into Hookfang's furious eyes and my silence was all he needed. He let out a screeching battle roar, lifted his wings, and prepared to charge. I'm sure he would've tried to kill me then and there if another dragon hadn't emerged from the crowd to stand in front of me.

 _"Meatlug?"_

She gazed at Hookfang with a look of such sadness that he visibly deflated a bit. He certainly didn't charge with her in the way. Meatlug had been one of the dragons that had been captured and used for viking training alongside Hookfang. Although Hookfang had been one of the dragons most affected by that time, Meatlug had certainly experienced her fair share of trauma as she'd been imprisoned the longest of the group. That was one of the things that made Meatlug understand all of us, especially Hookfang, so well: she'd lived our struggles and reminded us every so often that we have survived.

 _"Hookfang,"_ she murmured, _"do you really think this is what Stormfly would have wanted? For her two best friends to tear each other apart in their grief?"_

For the first time this morning, Hookfang's furious expression cracked. Meatlug turned to look at me and said just as quietly as before, _"I'm sure Toothless did everything he could at the time to save Stormfly. He is a good alpha, with a good heart."_ She turned to look at Hookfang again. _"Go, Hookfang. Grieve properly. You two can work this out when your heads are clearer."_

I looked on in awe as Hookfang turned away and took to the skies, trying to get away before we saw his face crumble, finally showing his true feelings. I saw it anyway.

I turned to Meatlug once he was gone and said gratefully, _"Thank you."_

She turned to me as well and gave me a sad smile, _"You're welcome, alpha Toothless. You should go too. Your human and his mate are grieving as well. You should be with them."_

Meatlug was usually so quiet, definitely the quietest in our group. But every once in awhile, she would remind us of just how caring she could be.

I listened to her counsel and nodded my thanks again before turning and bounding away towards Hiccup's house. Clearly, everyone was trying to deal with Stormfly's passing as best they could. For me, I needed to be with Hiccup. And based on the state of our bond, he needed me too.

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I bounded up the hill and leapt up, climbing the house, to get into the large opening that was the entrance to my room. As soon as I was in I smelled the tears, wafting up from downstairs. I slipped from my room and padded quietly down the now dragon-sized stairs to the ground floor.

Sitting before the fireplace was Hiccup and Astrid. Astrid was wrapped up in a fur blanket and nestled securely in Hiccup's side, head resting gently on his chest. His right arm was wrapped around her shoulder, holding her tight, while his left hand held the hand that was just barely poking out from the furry bundle. As I neared, I could clearly see Hiccup's thumb making little circles over Astrid's hand, Astrid's red, tear-stained face, and the wet mess that had become one side of Hiccup's shirt. Still, he didn't seem to notice. He was so lost between the woman he loved and the thoughts running through his head that he didn't even notice me until I crooned gently. Hiccup looked up and saw me, head near the floor and eyes downcast, and I felt a bit of affection thrum through our bond. That only made me feel even more guilty. All the same, Hiccup disengaged his hand from Astrid's and motioned for me to come over.

I approached slowly, fully aware that Astrid might not take kindly to my presence. But when she looked up and saw me, only the tiniest smile tugged at her lips. To see such a little thing on the tear-tracked face of the strongest viking woman I've ever known broke my heart.

Both Hiccup and Astrid extended their hands to me and as I curled myself around them, they rested their hands on my head, stroking gently. I heard Astrid hiccup slightly and smelled the fresh tears before I looked up to see them making their way down her face. Hiccup pulled her close to him again and I wrapped myself tighter around them.

I don't know how long we sat there together before sleep claimed us, but I know it didn't take too long before the smell of Astrid's tears were joined by another and my heart cried for both the humans I loved so dearly and my departed friend.

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 **Thank you for reading my story! I'll update again soon. And don't worry, we'll see our mysterious dragoness again soon. Don't forget to review if you feel so inspired and enjoy all the other wonderful stories on this site just waiting to be read!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello all! A HUGE 'thank you' to everyone who read, followed, favorited, and reviewed this story! I hope you enjoy the chapter as much as the last few. And please, PRETTY PLEASE, review. Seriously. Just like everyone else, I'm trying to improve with practice, and reviews are _super_ helpful. Enjoy!**

 _ **"Alpha Commands"** "Dragon Speech" Dragon Thoughts _ "Human Speech"

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By around midday Astrid had finally fallen asleep, exhausted from her crying, and I helped Hiccup to bring her upstairs. Hiccup's room is right next to mine for easy access and dragon-provided morning alarms. Hiccup's response to being woken up with a nice warm lick has always amused me. Astrid seemed like she too needed an affectionate lick, but I left that to Hiccup who took off her boots, slipped her into his bed and kissed her gently on the cheek before pulling the covers over her. When he was done, he stood beside the bed for a while, watching Astrid breathe calmly.

The little fireplace across the room illuminated their faces with a soft, golden light. I could see from where I stood the gentle look on Hiccup's face, tinged with sadness as he gazed down at the woman he loved. He looked lost, almost, but I couldn't tell if he was lost in his thoughts or in the face of his beloved. Either way, the sight sent a small pang though my chest.

I was very happy that Hiccup had managed to woo Astrid and that Astrid hadn't beaten him to a pulp in the course of their relationship. As all humans do, they've had their fair share of disagreements, but I've always noted the incredible loyalty they've shown for one another. In all honesty, it seems as strong as the loyalty and love between dragon mates. I, of course, was not the only one who noticed this. It came as a surprise to no one when they announced their 'engagement' shortly before the whole mess with Drago began. Though I still found it a bit confusing that Hiccup and Astrid were together as a pair, but not mates, then announced that they would be mates, without immediately becoming so, and then have to perform a ceremony where they became officially recognized as mates. I think Hiccup had called it a 'wedding'. Anyway, it all seemed terribly complicated to me. Yet, despite the stress the two seemed to be enduring over these ceremonies, and Astrid's repeated escapes from preparations, both Hiccup and Astrid had remained stubbornly happy and determined to be bound together by the strongest bonds humans could manage. I would be lying if I said I did not envy them for this, at least a little bit.

Hiccup stood, watching over Astrid for a moment longer before brushing a few golden strands of hair away from her face, and returning his hand to his side. I saw him take a deep breath in and finally let his shoulders relax. Hiccup turned towards me, a hand running over his face, and suddenly looked very tired. But the look was gone in a second as he gave me a smile, rubbed my nose, and gestured with his head that we should go. I followed him into my room quietly, where he checked my tail rig and saddle before hopping onto my back.

 _"Where should we go?"_ I asked.

Hiccup stayed silent for a moment, looking out the massive window at Berk. I could almost feel his mind mulling over the different duties and chores he should attend to. He was chief now after all, and had a great deal of responsibility. We both did. But Hiccup surprised me. He leaned down towards my ears and said quietly,

"Let's just fly."

* * *

I don't know if Hiccup has ever said anything more brilliant in his life. No sooner had the words left his lips than we were rocketing into the sky. We hadn't had as many chances to 'just go flying' recently in the wake of the Bewilderbeast attack and our respective leadership duties. Still, we'd been working hard to find time. And now, just flying aimlessly together, connected as one, was exactly what we needed.

We sped away from Berk and into the light of the afternoon sun. I closed my eyes for the briefest moment and let all my senses just reach out. I breathed deeply, sifting through every scent, relished in the feeling of the wind on my scales and the familiar weight of Hiccup on my back. I let my nerves sing from the tip of my tail to my nose, feeling every square inch of wing and scale as I raced through the air. Now, completely in tune with myself and my surroundings, I opened my eyes with a snap.

Now I felt alive.

I raced upwards through layer after layer of clouds, tilting this way and that, losing myself in the simple joy of flight. I could feel Hiccup doing the same. I opened our bond and together we thought as one. We flew around masses of clouds as if we were dancing through the halls of the gods, swerving around pillars of white and creamy droplets that glistened in the sunlight. We flew until it seemed easy to lose gravity as a figment of our imagination, gliding and diving in every direction through the sky.

Once we emerged from the clouds to look upon the sea below, I tucked in my wings and we began to fall. Hiccup let out a whooping holler as we descended and I joined his cry with a gleeful roar of my own. We dove down towards the sea at an alarming speed, only to pull up at the last second to leave a wake behind as we rocketed over the water. We spun upwards again, climbing high until we simply let ourselves fall, completely absorbed by the sound of the wind, the blood rushing through our veins, and the snug embrace of the air. It felt euphoric to fly like this again, to leave everything behind, to once again enjoy the impossible freedom of flight.

We flew like this on and on, over the ocean, the forests, and the islands. We flew through mazes of towering rocks, through caves and clouds till our souls were singing with the whistle of the wind.

We flew till we were free.

* * *

Although I knew he didn't want to admit it, I could sense Hiccup's need for a rest. He probably hadn't eaten anything all day, and both of us were in need of some water. I communicated this to Hiccup and he begrudgingly agreed to a break from our flight. We looked down at the coast below us. Hiccup spotted a break in the dense forest lining the shore; a nice meadow with a small river that drained into a sandy bay. It seemed like the perfect place to rest for a bit, so I touched down in the soft grass beside the river. Hiccup leapt off of my back and stretched as I shook myself a bit and turned to the river. The water was cool and clear, perfect for quenching my thirst after an energetic flight. I dipped my head in and drank till I was sated. Just as I was about to pull my head out, I was splashed on my left side. I lifted my head slowly to see Hiccup looking at me with a smirk of his face. That smirk quickly disappeared as I pushed my head into the river and shoved a wall of water in his direction. The wave caught Hiccup by surprise and pushed him into the creek. He stood, spluttering and shivering in the water, as I laughed. He sent me a glare for a moment before joining me in laughter. Hiccup pushed himself up onto the bank and lay there on the grass for a moment with his eyes closed, still chuckling to himself. Before long, it seemed that the warm grass and afternoon sun had lulled Hiccup to sleep. I decided that I was getting hungry, and since it seemed that Hiccup was content to lie on the warm grass till he was dry again, I decided to do a little fishing while he napped.

Although it's easiest to fish by dropping out of the sky and diving into a school, catching them before they have a chance to swim away, I've found other ways to catch my dinner without Hiccup's help. I took a deep breath before diving into the ocean and crawling along the bottom. Once I spotted a school, I hunkered down on the sea floor and waited for them to approach. The school was almost just overhead as I was running out of air. With a massive push with my legs and wings, I rocketed up through the water, right into the middle of the school, jaws snapping in all directions. My mouth was full of fish as I swam back towards shore. Once my paws hit dry sand, I shook the seawater off and flopped down onto some rocks near the shore to enjoy my meal. I set a few fish to the side for Hiccup to have once he wakes up and immediately set to snapping up my meal.

Just as I was licking the last of the salty, fishy juices off of my face, I heard Hiccup rise from his nap and approach.

"Hey bud. Guess you were feeling generous enough to leave me some." Hiccup plopped down on a rock and reached over to the fish I had left for him...which I slurped up before he had a chance to grab them.

"Hey! I thought we'd graduated past lessons on sharing!"

I smirked and hacked back up one of the fish, which flopped into Hiccup's lap with a satisfying squelch.

"Eugh...Toothless!" Hiccup whined. I just laughed.

But my laughter was cut short when I sensed the approach of several bodies in the water. Hiccup and I both watched warily as three little wakes approached where we sat. I growled lowly, a warning, and the wakes slowed. As they neared us, I was able to see the shapes in the water. They were Seashockers, the two-headed tidal dragons that had brought me to the Bewilderbeast's nest when we'd first found Hiccup's mother. I had greatly appreciated their assistance in not drowning.

After the fall of the Bewilderbeast their pod had decided to stay near Berk, giving us advanced warning of any sea attack and rescuing any ships lost at sea. Hiccup and I rose as they approached and I stepped into the shallows to meet them. However, I couldn't imagine what had brought them to us since few pirates sailed these waters after Drago's reign of destruction, and Berk hadn't had any ships out at sea in that vicious storm.

Two of the dragons stopped a respectful distance away as their leader came forward. Black fins protruding sharply from the water, dark blue and purple skin with patterns that rippled in the light, the Seashocker came to rest a Nadder's length away. The dragon raised its heads out of the water and bowed in greeting. I inclined my head in turn and spoke,

 _"What brings you here_ _Riptide, Ripfin?"_

Riptide replied quickly in the sharp way many tidal dragons do.

 _"Alpha, yesterday there was a terrible storm, as I'm sure you know, and from this storm came much destruction."_ I tried very hard to think only of what they are saying nothing else. Nothing else.

 _"Terrible! Terrible!"_ Chirped Ripfin. _"Whole islands ravaged, rocks ground to sand, winds and waves like a hurricane!"_

 _"Yes, yes,"_ Riptide growled irritably at his brother, _"it was bad. But beyond that, we found a dragon, chewed up and spit out by the storm. Looked wounded, very bad, so we came to find you right away."_

 _"Others in our pod are bringing her to Berk as we speak."_ Ripfin added.

I closed my eyes for a second and sighed. So they'd found Stormfly. Well, at least they were bringing her home.

 _"Thank_ _you,"_ I said to them, _"she_ _was much beloved in our colony, it will be good for them to say goodbye to her properly. Many were...quite upset with her passing,"_ I thought of Hookfang, _"and this may help them find closure."_

The Seashocker regarded me with looks of equal confusion on each face.

 _"What_ _exactly do you mean, Alpha? The dragoness we found wasn't one of your colony."_

 _"And_ _she_ _certainly wasn't dead!"_ Exclaimed Ripfin.

Now it was my turn to be confused. A dragoness found in the storm who wasn't one of ours? But Stormfly and I had been the only ones out there. _Then again_ , I thought to myself, _I_ _could hardly see a thing in that monster._

Hiccup's confusion pressed through our bond. He hadn't understood a single word we'd spoken since I'd forgotten to open my mind to his during our conversation. That was one of the coolest things about our bond that we'd discovered. If I kept it completely open, Hiccup could use my mind as an automatic translator and understand spoken Dragonese, rather than my thoughts alone. Although useful, this trick does require concentration, so I took a moment to gather my mental strength to 'prop open the door' between our minds before continuing the conversation.

 _"What_ _type of dragon did you find, exactly?"_ I asked.

Ripfin looked quite excited, and even Riptide suddenly looked very alert.

 _"Well, that's why we came to find_ _you,"_ said Ripfin.

 _"We'd_ _gone ahead to alert you and Berk, but when we smelled you in the water on our way there we changed course to find you as soon as possible."_ Riptide explained. _"We_ _knew this would be...most important news."_

Hiccup's mind practically blazed with curiosity, and mine was much the same. Although, I felt a strange bundle of anxiety growing in the pit of my stomach as well. My anxiety burbled into frustration as I wondered just what 'important news' the Seashocker's could possibly have.

 _"Well_ _then,"_ I prompted, growing the least bit annoyed, _"what_ _dragon did you find?"_

Riptide and Ripfin looked at me with a troubling mix of emotions and said in unison two words that knocked the wind out of me and sent Hiccup careening onto his ass,

 _"A Nightfury."_

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 **Thank you so much for reading my story! Favorite, follow, and review as you may. Can't wait to introduce you to our waterlogged mystery dragoness next chapter! Bye-bye for now!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Welp. I'm back. It's been a long time since I last updated and I'm sorry for that. I never really gave up on the story, life just had a funny way of being in the way. Regardless, thank you so much to those who stuck in there. A special shoutout to ArtemisXHolly for reminding me that there are people out there crazy enough to read this. Thank you. I am working on the next chapter already, so you won't have to wait a whole year for the next update. Please, enjoy this chapter and review if you can spare the time. Criticisms are always welcome.**

* * *

"Holy Yaknog….. _Holy Yaknog!"_ I felt my knees begin to tremble in the same way they had when I'd first met Toothless….and had passed out. A roiling mass of shock, elation, fear, and bafflement felt like it was trying to eat me alive. I began to see black spots on the corners of my vision and felt panic. I couldn't pass out now! I had to….we had to…. I suddenly realised that I wasn't breathing. Taking a great gulp of air, I saw the black spots disappear. Although that brought me some relief, I was still hard-pressed to keep from hyperventilating.

As I struggled to breathe normally, the Seashocker's words kept spinning around in my head. Once I was no longer in danger of becoming a uselessly-floppy-Hiccup-fish I looked at Toothless to see how he was reacting to the Seashocker's news.

He'd gone stone still. Honestly, a statue of him could have been more expressive. I pressed on our bond to hear….nothing. There was nothing there. Worry overtook the vortex of feelings sloshing around in my stomach and I reached out to touch Toothless' leg.

"Toothless?"

He sat there, without responding, for a few beats, before blinking. With that one tiny motion, Toothless was suddenly alive. He literally fell over himself as he darted to and fro, picking up my boots and belt, practically flipping me over in an attempt to get me on his back as fast as possible.

"Toothless! Toothless, calm down. We're going! We're going!" As I clicked my prosthetic into place, I turned to the Seashocker before us and managed to get out, "Thank you for finding-" before we were racing upwards. I was nearly blown off Toothless' back as he zipped upwards and turned towards Berk. Thankfully, I was able to press myself down as the wind sliced over our streamlined forms. As we arced through the air, I tried opening my mind to Toothless like he'd been trying to teach me.

"Toothless? You're scaring me a little, bud." Finally, I got a response.

" _It can't be true."_

* * *

When my eyes cracked open, it felt like someone had tied bolas to my eyelids. The light irritated my already swollen eyes and I burrowed my head back into the blanket tucked around me. I was warm, swaddled in the smell of Hiccup, and it made me feel at home. As my senses expanded, I heard the sound of the village, awake and bustling. Carts and conversations, dragons chattering about.

Dragons.

Suddenly, my warm cocoon felt far too hot and tight. I threw the blankets off and leapt from the bed. Wobbling to the washbasin in the corner, I splashed my face over and over again. With each fresh handful of cold water, new memories and pain lanced through me. Again and again, the arguments, the flight, the storm, the lightning. The smell of Stormfly, the movement of her wings, the electricity in the air, the blinding flash….I finally stopped splashing my face to discover that I'd covered myself in half the basin.

Cursing quietly, I wiped my face and strode over to the chest where Hiccup keeps his clothes. Opening it wide, I sifted through the layers till I found what I was looking for. One of Hiccup's old tunics, from back before he grew quite so long and his shoulders quite so broad. Holding it to my face, I breathed in, disappointed to find it held hardly any scent beyond the rich wool from which the piece was made. Quickly stripping off my own soaked tunic, I slipped Hiccup's on, shivering in the moment when my skin was bare to the chill morning air.

As I righted the tunic and tucked it into my skirt, I turned and looked around the room. There was no sign of Hiccup or Toothless. The emptiness of the house felt...wrong, so I hurried down the stairs, grabbing my boots as I went. I slipped them on as I skittered down the stairs, nearly tripping as a result. I hardly even noticed the fire burning low in the hearth as I nearly ran for the door, so eager was I to be outside. I almost flew out of Hiccup's house but stopped as soon as I stepped into the sunlight.

Everywhere, there were people, dragons, all going about their normal business. Normalcy...I couldn't bear to see it, the island seeming so unchanged when my beloved Stormfly was not there to add her own colors to the kaleidoscope that has become Berk. Instead of heading down into the village, I ran around the house and followed the treeline around the outside of the village.

I don't know why I never went into the forest. It should have been my first refuge. I should have grabbed my axe and sliced trees to kindling until my muscles shook with fatigue. That would have helped me forget. But I suppose that is why I chose instead to walk just outside the dark, whispering arms of the forest: I wanted to remember.

So I walked; I walked and I ran until I remembered everything. I remembered my very first flight with Stormfly when we fought the Red Death. I remembered how Stormfly tried to apologize for dropping me. I remember our first exploration voyage together, the first time she burned part of my house. I remembered the games, the wonder, the _freedom_ we found with each other. I remembered telling her I loved Hiccup. It's funny, she's the first one I said it to, the first time I'd been comfortable enough to acknowledge out loud the weird, mushy feelings that dork inspired in me. I used to be made of iron, cold as granite. Now, look how easily I bent. I bent and kept on bending till the memories flowed like water over my eyes and I found myself smiling and laughing and choking all in turn.

By the time I reached the strip of beach below the harsh cliffs of Berk's North shore, I didn't feel quite so empty as I had that morning. I still felt horrible, of course, but more human now. I sat on the sand and let it sift through my fingers as I thought. I wasn't usually the big thinker. Between me and Hiccup, he was usually the one to spend hours contemplating something or other. I preferred to make decisions and follow through rather than stew. But this time was an exception. Slowly but surely, sifting through my memories, I was trying to honor Stormfly and our time together. I was trying to bring her peace, lay her memory to rest.

Watching the sun rise higher, I began to feel hunger gnaw its way into my stomach. Wiping my eyes one last time on my sleeve, I breathed in the salty air, letting it fill up my lungs and pull me upwards. I was just about to turn and head up to the village when movement in the water caught my eye.

Far out in the water, some blob of color was moving towards shore….quite quickly too by the look of it. I watched for a minute, trying to figure out what was swimming this way. It was clearly no ship, but it didn't look like any dragon I had ever seen before. Some mix of blue and black… I was apparently not the only one to notice. I heard the buzzing of Gronkle wings and turned to greet Fishlegs before he and Meatlug touched ground.

"Hey, Astrid! Glad to see you up and in….pretty good shape."

"...Thanks Fishlegs." I turned back towards the approaching blob. "Do you have any idea what that is?"

"Oh, yeah! Meatlug and I were flying on patrol, waiting for Hiccup to get back, when we saw a couple of Seashockers making their way here. Looked like they were carrying something between them. We thought about investigating, but we saw you down here so…."

I hardly paid attention to Fishlegs as the dragons approached. Soon, the shapes were clear enough to distinguish the different dragons. Three Seashockers and one black, scaly mass that could only be a…

"Odin help us…"

"Is that…?"

"Toothless?!" I would have flung myself into the sea to reach the unconscious Nightfury even a second faster if Fishlegs hadn't held me back.

"Astrid! Astrid, wait a second. They're almost here. I'll go get help!" Fishlegs leapt onto Meatlug and was off in a second as soon as he was sure I wasn't going to drown myself in my panic. Though panic, I did. My mind rattled off worst-case scenarios by the second as the dragons approached at a suddenly agonizing pace. What happened to Toothless? Where was Hiccup?

Where was Hiccup?!

But as my mind shifted into warrior mode the closer the dragons got, I noticed something was wrong. The dragon the Seashockers carried almost seemed...smaller than I thought Toothless was. And sure enough, with growing shock, I saw as the Seaschockers came to the shallows that the dragon was too small and too narrow to be Toothless. What's more, its tail fin was intact….more or less.

I was speechless for only a second before springing to action. Although comparatively weak, I helped the Seashockers drag the dragon onto land. Once out of the water, for the most part, the dragon's wounds became visible. The Nightfury's tough hide was covered with scrapes, the tender webbing flesh of the wings were laced with cuts that still oozed blood. It looked like it had been flying through the throat of a Thunderdrum….not only that, but the dragon looked slightly malnourished. It was much thinner than Toothless, yet its bones weren't showing….perhaps rather than malnourished, it was just young? Regardless, the Nightfury had clearly lost quite a bit of blood and was frighteningly cold to the touch. Luckily, the small rise and fall of its chest reassured me that it was, in fact, alive. I had nothing to dress any wounds with, so I found myself stroking the dragon's head and humming quietly, the way I always had when Stormfly was injured or ill. The dragon groaned in its sleep and let out a whimper. My heart lurched in my chest and my humming grew louder. This poor thing...what kind of hell did it go through to end up on our shores like this? I could only pray that help got here soon. Fishlegs and Gothi would surely do their best to heal the Nightfury, but I couldn't help but feel that Hiccup should be here to deliver a plan, a strategy. I looked out to the sea and saw no sign of my rogue boyfriend.

 _Well then_ , I thought, _I guess I'll have to be the one to take care of you for now._

* * *

 **Thanks again for reading! Have a great day and stick around for the next chapter. Also please, review review review! If not this story, then the next one you read. Seriously, practice helps but hearing feedback is always helpful on the path to better writing.**

 **Dream a little more tonight.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Oh my golly gosh! Such a warm response after being away for so long! Special thanks to Blitz in The Reviews, luke payne, bl2008, and toshiro and sakura 4 ever for their support and warm words. I really appreciate it. So, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy! And please, always feel free (and encouraged) to review. If not for this story, please review for another one. So many authors really appreciate the feedback. So, have fun and keep reading!**

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Seeing Valka and Fishlegs descending from the sky was like watching the arrival of valkyries. Before Cloudjumper even touched the ground, Valka had vaulted off his back and rushed to my side.

"Oh, Astrid….by the gods. It's another Nightfury!"

"It's injured, Valka, and not breathing very well."

"Right! Yes! Fishlegs, grab out that sail, quickly! We haven't a moment to lose."

Fishlegs waddled as fast as he could to grab the ship sail tied to Meatlug's back and lay it out beside the beached dragon.

"We can make a stretcher out of this to carry our dear friend here, but we need to find a place to take her."

Although our dragon pen was mostly intact from Drago's attack, the scents of so many dragons might alarm the Nightfury, if it ever managed to wake up. My mind whirred with possibilities, until the perfect place struck me.

"Let's take it to Hiccup's house. Toothless' room on the second floor has easy dragon access and the smell of another Nigthfury will probably be a lot more comforting than anything else."

"Great idea, Astrid!" Fishlegs said.

"Perfect. Now, we just need to get it there." Valka directed Cloudjumper's moving of the Nightfury from the sandy shoreline onto the thick sail. I to Meatlug and grabbed off the ropes she'd carried. Fishlegs and I hurried to secure the sail between the two dragons. As soon as everyone was in position, with me riding behind Valka, we took off.

The flight was almost agonizingly slow. I could tell we all wanted to hurry, but Valka had warned us that being as gentle as possible was probably the best idea. I kept my eyes on the Nightfury constantly, and felt my heart go out to it. It continued to whimper intermittently during the flight and let out a distressed yelp when its landing in Toothless' room was a little too jarring. Valka, Fishlegs, and I all immediately set out to care for the dragon. Cloudjumper helped us position her on the stone bed that toothless used and Valka quickly sent Fishlegs off to fetch what supplies we'd need.

"Are you sure you want me helping, Valka? I'm not exactly the most experienced at healing…."

"That's just fine, Astrid. For a little while, I'll need your strength more than anything."

I looked at Valka curiously as she rushed around the room, grabbing the only blankets she could find.

"Please, fetch a tub and some water. Our first priorities need to be cleaning those wings and getting him warm."

I was running out of the room, almost before Valka had finished. Although I was worried and stressed, I knew that this kind of work was good for me. As I lugged a tub of water back up the stairs, I was glad that I could do something to help this dragon, at least. When I reached the room, I found Valka opening a flask of mead and a very out-of-breath Fishlegs.

"Astrid! Perfect, just set that over here and help Fishlegs hold him down. Conscious or not, he's not much going to like how this feels…"

I jumped into position beside Fishlegs as we prepared to hold down the most severely injured wing. As soon as Valka began pouring mead on the wounds, the dragon began to thrash and cry out. Cloudjumper immediately stepped in to try to help hold the dragon down, but it was still trying to wrench itself away from the liquid burning into its wounds. All of us could see that if this continued, the Nightfury's injuries would only worsen. _Still, we need to get these cuts cleaned and dressed!_

I was completely flying by the seat of my skirt when I started to sing. If not for the dire situation, my mortification alone might have garnered Valka another patient. But what else was I supposed to try?!

My voice isn't really anything to admire, as anyone but Hiccup will tell you. But, regardless of quality, the singing still managed to do something. Little by little, the thrashing subdued and the screeches of pain receded into whimpers. Valka took advantage of the calm and urged me to keep singing while she cleaned the wing as quickly as possible.

As soon as the first one was done, Valka moved on to the second. As she was making progress on that, she determined the dragon's thrashing had calmed down enough that she could spare Fishlegs.

"I need you to go outside and get as many dragons as possible to hack up some coals. The Gronkles, especially, will be of help. Fill as many ash bins as possible and bring them back here. We need to warm this little guy up." Fishlegs darted off to do as instructed, while Valka and I stayed to clean and dress the dragon's injuries. We worked ceaselessly for nearly two hours before the dragon was wrapped and warm enough for us to take a breath.

"It looks like he's breathing better now," I voiced.

Valka nodded but appeared deep in thought. Unable to keep my curiosity at bay, something I'd picked up from Hiccup over the years, I asked, "Why do you think he's so small?"

Valka glanced up at me, then back to the dragon. "He looks young and maybe underfed. He's shaped differently from Toothless but that could be a development issue or completely normal for the species. It's hard to tell without flipping him over, and I don't want to risk injury to those wings. If there was anything severe on his underbelly, the sail would have shown it. I just….have too many unknowns."

I watched the dragon's back rise and fall. The poor thing probably wasn't resting very comfortably with its wings and tail fins stretched out to help them stay clean and accessible.

"I find it worrying," Valka said, "that Hiccup has been gone for so long." She met my eyes again and I saw my own worry mirrored there. "It seems strange for him to fly off and not return for half a day without telling anyone. And after what happened last night….I don't trust these skies to be kind."

Giving my worries a direction, lest they just keep overflowing in my stomach, I said, "You should go out and look for him. I don't have...a dragon right now, so I'll stay here and keep our guest warm and well looked after."

"Will you, Astrid? Thank you."

Valka rose and leapt onto Cloudjumper's back in one smooth motion. Despite her age, she was still incredibly lithe.

"I'll make sure he gets home before you can say 'Thunderdrum'. He won't want to miss another second of this most miraculous discovery."

With that, Valka was off. I watched her retreating shape flying into the midday sun and wished that I could follow. I should be the one going after my errant boyfriend, but an uncomfortable huffing behind me reminded me why I was needed here.

Turning back to the Nightfury, I made my way to its head and began stroking the crest of its brow and its jaw. Humming lightly, the dragon stilled again beneath my hands and for the first time since it had been dropped before me on the beach, the dragon relaxed.

* * *

Stopping a Nightfury flying at full speed is almost impossible, yet Hiccup's combined fear and strength of will finally managed to break through to me and I slowed us down with great difficulty. All I wanted to do was blast across the sky to see if what the Seashockers had told us could possibly be true, when Hiccup, who was thankfully being observant, noticed what loomed up ahead. A huge, black cloud was rapidly expanding before us. Lightning darted out every few moments, and both Hiccup and I were hit by a terrible certainty: this was the very same stormcloud we had flown through last night. "This is impossible...the storm we went through was huge! It should have blown far away by now, spinning itself out. This can't possibly be the same storm!" I could feel Hiccup grappling for answers, but I was only sure of what I felt. Every instinct in my body told me that this storm was the same one we'd encountered before. Like Hiccup, I knew this conclusion to be impossible, yet I knew it was true. I shared this with Hiccup and a particularly grim look overtook his face.

"Bud, I don't think this is any _natural_ storm."

As soon as I focused on the storm once again, I saw what he meant. In the minute we had spent thinking about it, the storm had grown impossibly large and had even begun to encircle us. My spine shuddered, no storm cloud should be able to do that.

I immediately turned around and tried to fly around the storm, but suddenly a fierce wind picked up and slowed my progress. My senses went on high alert. The wind wasn't pushing us back, it was _pulling us in_. I flapped with renewed vigor, but watched in despair as the storm cloud connected on the other side and grew in all directions so that we would soon be completely surrounded. I roared in alarm and felt Hiccup's idea before it even left his lips.

"Dive! Dive! Dive!"

My wings snapped into my sides and we dropped like stones towards the ocean. _Maybe we can find a way beneath it,_ I thought. As I opened my wings just before hitting the water, we zoomed over the growing waves towards Berk. There was still a gap between the storm and the sea, though it was shrinking with every second. I pushed my wings as hard as I could, but the wind grew ever more relentless and Hiccup and I watched in despair as the storm closed us in.

It was like a nightmare being replayed before us. The winds howled, even fiercer than before, and the rain pelted us like knives. Hiccup was woefully unprepared, and as the minutes dragged on, our mutual panic grew. I tried to stay low to the sea and keep my orientation clear, but every boom of thunder overhead shook me just a little bit more. Suddenly, an updraft sent me shooting into the heart of the storm. In my violent struggle to re-orient myself and return to lower altitudes, my thrashing broke some of my rigging. We'd never cleaned it after the storm the night before, and a few of the bolts had rusted without our knowledge. Hiccup let out a yell as his foot attachment broke off of my harness and my rear fin lost its control. Instead of flying down, we plummeted. I tried my best to ease our landing for Hiccup's sake, but the best I could manage was spreading myself out and hoping that I hit the water first. If Hiccup landed first, or stayed in that cold water too long, I was certain he would never make it home.

* * *

 **Cliffhanger...sorry-ish. And I promise, things will progress much more in the next chapter! Thanks for reading, really truly. I hope you enjoyed it, come back for more, and dream a little more today. Best wishes to all of you wonderful readers!**


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